This is mnnkeypants's Green Wedding!

I definitely haven't posted in quite some time... We took a short break from wedding planning in order to plan a vacation to attend another wedding (his brother's) halfway across the country. Now we're back into planning our own full force, and it is STRESSFUL. And that's putting it mildly. How does anyone do this more than once? I pray this is my one and only marriage and it lasts FOREVER.

More posts about our plans to come. We actually have a lot in the works right now, can't wait to settle on the specifics and start booking our vendors.

I went browsing on the Archiver's website today and suddenly knew exactly how I want my invitations to look. Made a sample from my scrapbooking supplies. Pictures and such will be up in the next few days. I did the math and with all the paper, envelopes, ribbon, EVERYTHING including tax, they will run me $1.09 per invite. SWEET!!!!

I just realized I will be married in exactly 13 months!!! Well 13 months and a couple of hours, more than likely hehe :D

How long did you date before you got engaged?
-3 days before our 2 year mark!

Did you get the ring you wanted?
-It was PERFECT!! I wanted a super simple princess cut diamond with a silver band. He did good :)

Was the proposal a complete surprise?
-Actually yes, it was my birthday and my best friend and her boyfriend were with us, I wasn't expecting it but it turned out to be the perfect moment.

Do you wish you had a bigger/smaller diamond? If so How big or small?
-I love the size of my diamond!

Did you cry when he proposed?
-Sure did, got photos of the whole thing too!

Was the proposal romantic or creative? Explain how if you'd like.
-Romantic

When do you want to go for your honeymoon?
-We want to leave the day after the wedding

Are you buying his wedding band for him?
-We'll be using our wedding budget for the bands.

Have you gone over your original wedding budget?
-We're slowly working that out... just bought a big wedding planner book :)

What day of the year will your wedding be?
-Saturday, July 16, 2011

What kind of weather?
-Hoping for upper 70's and sunny, but it's Wisconsin and you never know what will happen.

Inside or outside?
-Indoors, A/C running. For sure.

Church/justice of the peace/other?
-Church, our church doesn't have a building though so we're choosing a church for our pastor to come in and marry us at.

How many people will be there?
-We're still going through family trees and friends to figure out a rough estimate... we're hoping to keep it around 100 but our families are huge!!! We could easily go up to 200 without blinking if we don't keep things under control.

Time of day?
-I'm thinking 2 or 3 for ceremony, dinner at 5 or 6

Any kind of theme?
-Simple, elegant, colors are green, pink and brown, and we're going to use calla lilies for a lot of decor. My favorite flower :)

How many bridesmaids? Who would they be?
3 girls. MOH is my best friend of 20 years, Pam. BM's are my cousin Rachael and my fiance's sister Stacy.

What kind of cake/what will it look like?
-I think I want a two or three tier square cake. Simple, green all over with a band of chocolate brown at the bottom of each tier, maybe a few sugar paste calla lilies??? Still too early to tell what we'll do here... we've talked about a cupcake tree too!

Where will you have the reception?
-Looking at either Roma Lodge, South Hills Country Club, or Madrigano Marina Shores Banquets.

What kind of dress will you have/color/material?
-See prior post :)

What kind of flowers in your bouquet?
-I want white calla lilies filled with babies breath. Simple. Going with fake too cause callas are around 9 bucks a stem!!!

Kind of engagement ring?
-White gold, princess cut, gorgeous!

Kind of wedding bands?
-I want a band to match my engagement ring's. I'll put pics up later.

How will you wear your hair?
-I have long hair, and I want some down, so I'm thinking a half up-do with big curls, or maybe just spiral curls. Have to experiment some.

Who will be important to be there?
-Our immediate families and our close relatives. And Pam.

Will the reception be big or small?
-Mid sized.

What will the groom wear?
-He wants a black tuxedo, classic.

Where will you go for the honeymoon?
-We're hoping for a Carribean cruise

How long?
-2 days if we can't afford the 10 days I want! or somewhere in between, all depends on finances.

What will you do?
-Have fun!

Will it be modest or costly?
-Modest

What will you stay in?
-On a ship!

How old will you and the groom be?
-I'll be 26, he'll be 24. (i have a year and a half on him haha!)

How long will you be engaged before you get married?
-A year and 2 months.

Live together before or wait till married?
-Living together already.

Take a long time to plan the wedding or will it be simple?
-Gonna take a long time so I make sure everything is the way we want it

Will you do it yourself or with family or hire someone to plan the wedding?
-We can't afford a wedding planner so we're doing it ourselves.

Will you write your own vows or use something pre-made?
-We're gonna use something pre-made, although I want to find something other than the traditional, over-used ones. Also, Zach has a two year old son, and I want to say vows to him at the ceremony as well.

I knew what colors I wanted pretty quickly, just took a while to settle on a shade of green.

David's Bridal didn't quite have the green I wanted for my girls' dresses. I was originally thinking a warm sage green, with light pink and chocolate brown accents. I don't want any metallics or shiny anything, cause they just won't go with my dress - it has all-over lace.

DB has two green shades I could have used, the clover green wasn't warm enough for me though. And the peridot was just a shade or two lighter than what I was thinking. Plus the consultant told me she heard they're discontinuing peridot soon for a different green.

I checked out La Sposa bridal in Kenosha and looked at their color swatches - they carry Alfred Angelo dresses among many others. At first their clover color looked perfect but when I held it up with the pink and brown, it wasn't quite right. Celadon was PERFECT.

So there's my colors. Celadon green, light pink and espresso brown. SO EXCITED!!! :)

The first thing Zach and I have gone over and over and over has been the budget. Before we can even think about going forward with our planning this has to be figured out. Between what we should be able to save and what our parents have offered to contribute, we'll more than likely end up around the 6-7k mark. This means we need to cut costs as much as possible. If anyone has tips for weddings on a budget, please let me know!!!

So to keep the story short:

I fell in love with a dress I saw one of George Bush's daughters wore at her wedding - my mom had a copy of a People magazine with her on the cover.

Then 6 months ago I saw a dress that was about the same style on David's Bridal's website, but even more to my liking. I fell in love with it. I wasn't engaged at the time, but you know us girls... love to dream.

April 30: My boyfriend Zach's mom took me to David's Bridal to buy me a formal dress for his sister's wedding in June. I picked one out pretty quickly so she suggested I try on some wedding dresses just for fun.

I tried on two A-line gowns that I liked but didn't love before I finally found the gown I saw online in the store. I knew from the moment I saw myself in the mirror that it was THE dress.

Next day, my birthday, Zach proposed.

Two days later, he informs me that my future mother-in-law purchased it for me, and it arrived two weeks later.

This was by far the best surprise gift anyone has ever gotten me thus far. I cried, a lot, when he told me she bought it for me.

I cannot wait to walk down the aisle in this beautiful dress... :D